WWE Extreme Rules 2014 Review

Match 1: Elimination - Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger vs. Cesaro
This is the opening contest of the night as ECW original Rob Van Dam goes against Jack Swagger and Cesaro in an elimination match. I'm a sucker for triple threat matches and this one features three guys who can easily open the show on the right note. Good pacing and fun action from the three that saw Swagger get eliminated by Van Dam. Van Dam and Cesaro had a nice exchange as they brought out a trashcan because after all, this is Extreme Rules. Van Dam placed it on top of Cesaro and looked to finish him off with a Frog Splash until Cesaro got out of the way and planted Van Dam with a Neutralizer on the can for the win. Nice opening contest to set the tone for the rest of the night. Also a cool win for Cesaro who is on fire after his big WrestleMania win.
Winner: Cesaro
Rating: **3/4

Match 2: Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth & Xavier Woods
Rusev's manager Lana comes out before the match and dedicates the match to Vladimir Putin and introduces Rusev to the New Jersey crowd. He has two opponents but quickly takes out Woods before the match bell tolls. He destroys R-Truth who surprisingly got in a decent amount of offense in before falling to Rusev's Accolade finisher. Rusev continues to impress and reminds me of Umaga in some sense. Nice squash match to continue getting Rusev in the spotlight. Rusev then disposes of Woods once more after the match.
Winner: Rusev
Rating: *

Match 3: Intercontinental Championship - Big E (c) vs. Bad News Barrett
Barrett won a #1 contender's tournament to challenge Big E for this opportunity. Been enjoying the work from these two as of late and was hopeful that they would score enough time on a pretty stacked card. Crowd is definitely behind the heel Barrett and it seemed like it brought the best out of him. Their styles are pretty similar and they blended well together here. Ending stretch came when Big E looked to hit his Big Ending finish until Barrett countered and missed a Bull Hammer shot. But Barrett manages to quickly land a running Hammer right after for the big win to the delight of the crowd. I've got some bad news for ya! Barrett is the new champ!
Winner: Bad News Barrett
Rating: **1/4

Match 4: Evolution vs. The Shield
It is almost impossible to believe that this match is happening. Evolution regrouping for the first time since 2004 as Triple H, Randy Orton, & Batista look to take on three hungry guys in Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns. This match rocked. They wanted to make The Shield look good and they definitely looked both stronger and hungrier. It is pretty obvious that the WWE is high on these guys and they got the better of Evolution here in a back and fourth match that really made Evolution look like they were simply playing defense the entire road. Crowd was insanely hot for this match, they did not want to see an ending. It was carnage from top to bottom with again, The Shield really getting the most out of the match. Since this is an Extreme Rules PPV, they took things outside the ring with Ambrose jumping off the announce tables and finally, Rollins jumping off a balcony and splashing on to Triple H along with Randy Orton. In the ring, Batista look primed to hit his Batista Bomb but Reigns reversed into a Superman Punch into a Spear! Before I say anything else, I definitely have to credit Batista. Not only did he come back and eat the submission loss at WrestleMania, but he ate the pin here. Zero selfishness on his part and is truly doing his best to make others look good. As for the match, it was awesome. Shield look motivated and ready to claim their spots at the top. And Triple H has no problem with putting them over. The younger Shield basically beat Evolution like we have never, ever seen before in a WWE ring. Awesome stuff.
Winners: The Shield
Rating: ****1/4

Match 5: Steel Cage - Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena
Heard so many interesting things of this match so I am a bit curious to see how this goes. This is the rematch for their WrestleMania match that I felt was underwhelming. Cage matches have become pretty repetitive overtime and it becomes increasingly difficult to really do something different. Wyatt has his family surrounding the cage and make things interesting as they refuse to allow Cena to exit by exiting. The pacing of the match was on point, this match went nearly half an hour and they spaced out their moves and spots nicely. But it almost felt like the crowd was a little taken back by it after the extremely fast match that was Evolution vs. The Shield. The match was pretty enjoyable until the finish came about. Cena had the entire Wyatt Family down. He looked to exit through the open door until the lights go out and a child appears singing. What is this? Cena is taken back by this as Wyatt hits his finisher and scores the win. I know this is pro wrestling and anything can happen. But seriously, what the hell was that? The announcers try to play it off but this is so stupid. Great match capped off with a ridiculous finish.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Rating: ***

Match 6: Divas Championship - Paige (c) vs. Tamina Snuka
Tamina is not your typical Diva. She is definitely more wrestler than simply a pretty face. She won a battle royal to score a chance at gold here against Paige. Crowd could not care less for this one. Basically dead throughout the whole match and things did not help when the referee messed up a count. But even with that, the action was still a bit better than we have been accustomed to seeing as both Divas definitely got some skill in the ring. Paige wins with an innovative submission to retain her title.
Winner: Paige
Rating: *1/2

Match 7: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Extreme Rules - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kane
It is almost hard to believe that these two were a tag team just a year ago. Many are not too thrilled to see that Kane is the first challenger to Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, seeing as this is an Extreme Rules match, I am actually looking forward to this one. This was far and away one of the more goofy main events in a long time from the WWE. This match defines exactly what the PPV should be, craziness and more craziness. After all, this is an Extreme Rules match! Lots of foreign objects used for this one as they took the fight to the back where they destroyed televisions, shattered car windows, and used a forklift. Yes, a forklift. Bryan knocked out Kane with a tire iron and used the forklift to carry Kane back to the ring! Bryan then dumped Kane into the ring using it and then doze off of it. I am not making this stuff up here. Bryan looks to be on a roll and looks to hit a dive to the outside only for Kane to catch him and Chokeslam him through the announce table. Kane then sets a table on fire where Bryan is able to dump Kane onto it and hit a Running Knee for the win! Fun stuff! One of Kane's strongest matches in recent memory, both Bryan and the stipulation brought out the best of him. Also, Bryan scores another PPV win under his belt. People are too sensitive these days, especially wrestling fans. Just sit back, shut up, and enjoy this. You know it was fun.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: ***3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Extreme Rules is always one of the stronger shows of the year and this year fell a little flat. The obvious highlight would be the Evolution vs. Shield match which definitely lived to the hype. The main event was also fun but everything else was just there. Check out those two matches and you'll be good.
Rating: 6/10